Teaching Assistants (Postsecondary) build instructing, complex problem solving and coordination skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education (86%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | 86% | $72,040 | +68% | None |
| 2 | Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School | 86% | $65,030 | +52% | None |
| 3 | Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education | 86% | $63,970 | +49% | None |
| 4 | Education Teachers, Postsecondary | 85% | $75,350 | +76% | None |
| 5 | Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | 83% | $64,370 | +50% | None |
| 6 | Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors | 82% | $61,540 | +43% | None |
| 7 | Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary | 81% | $79,940 | +86% | None |
| 8 | Tutors | 80% | $43,350 | +1% | None |
| 9 | Special Education Teachers, Secondary School | 80% | $74,260 | +73% | None |
| 10 | Library Science Teachers, Postsecondary | 80% | $80,340 | +87% | None |
Compared with Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary, median $42,910. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as teaching assistants (postsecondary) (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
86% skill match · $72,040 · +68% pay
Social Perceptiveness · Systems Analysis · Systems Evaluation
No work-context factor stands out as unusually hard in O*NET data.
86% skill match · $65,030 · +52% pay
Social Perceptiveness · Systems Analysis · Systems Evaluation
86% skill match · $63,970 · +49% pay
Social Perceptiveness · Service Orientation · Coordination
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education (86% skill match, median $72,040), Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School (86% skill match, median $65,030) and Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education (86% skill match, median $63,970), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 24 pay more than teaching assistants (postsecondary) at the median. The biggest increases: Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary (+140%, $103,170), Speech-Language Pathologists (+128%, $97,870) and Geography Teachers, Postsecondary (+127%, $97,590).
25 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.